Phil McKinney served as vice president and CTO for HP's Personal Systems Group, which is responsible for managing long-term strategic planning, research and development for HP’s PC product lines, ranging from mobile devices (i.e. tablets) to laptops, desktops, and workstations.

While putting on a diplomatic front, McKinney insisted on his blog that this is not a "traditional" retirement:

My definition of retirement is the freedom to write, speak, mentor, advise and teach without the restrictions of the traditional employee/corporate structure.

My passion is to help innovators get better at innovating and I’ve spent the better part of the last dozen years fulfilling that mission. My time at HP started out as an advisor on innovation that turned into a request to join for a year or so to “help grow the innovation culture at HP”. That was 9 years ago. I can honestly say they I’ve done everything that is within my power to fulfill that objective.

As he anticipates his last day at HP to be December 31, McKinney's future plans include publishing his first book, and expanding upon other ventures such as speaking opportunities and podcasts.

Although he didn't provide many more specifics than that, McKinney also said that he plans to "repeat what I did at HP by helping others get better at innovation."

He added:

I’m also excited that once again, I will be able to take on board seats, advisory roles and mentoring opportunities since I will no longer have to worry about conflict of interest and other corporate restrictions.

While McKinney did not make a reference to the recent tumultuous events surrounding HP's PC business, the timing of his retirement announcement will certainly raise some eyebrows as to how stable this division might be going forward.

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive based in San Francisco, covering business and enterprise technology for ZDNet, CNET and SmartPlanet.
She has previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish Americ...
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